Chapter Text
It took some time for Alan and the others to warm up to the new member of Baek-jeong’s team. A woman more than capable of doing the job, never hesitating before diving into a fight or flinching when the opponent sliced her skin with a sashimi knife. She was fast and strong, a damn good fighter by Baek-jeong’s standards, as good as Tae-geom even. But Alan kept his distance because even though he worked for a dangerous man and lived a hidden life made of violence and hacking, he wasn’t a violent man. He knew how to fight, it had been a requirement from Baek-jeong, but he didn’t like it. He knew it looked like cowardice to the others around, when he’d stay in the backseat of the car, hiding behind his laptop while the others went out to fight. But he just didn’t like to use his fists, he preferred to type on his keyboard– that’s the kind of violence he knew best. Inflicting someone some pain from afar, even if it was not physical, was much more satisfying and entertaining to him than any fist fight.
After awhile having to work and spend so much time with her, Alan finally warmed up to her a little bit. It was gradual, not intense and not a lot of words were exchanged but he noticed how she’d look at him sometimes and get so lost in thoughts that he would catch her staring a few seconds more before she realised and averted her gaze. He thought she hid it well under a look of indifference, but not nearly as good as she thought. He could see the very faint blush on her cheeks and her eyes staying longer on the piercing at his lower lip. He wasn’t indifferent to women, he liked them but he was just shy. Perhaps not confident enough in himself to totally understand why anyone would be even slightly interested in him. It wasn’t like he hated himself, but his lifestyle didn’t allow him lots of free time and freedom to meet new people, let alone women.
He was an introverted nerd who preferred the company of his tech rather than other humans. He was more confident behind his screen than he’d ever been in real life. Except when he had to talk business with potential investors for the IKFC– that’s when the passion for his job took over just like it took over when he was typing away on his laptop, forgetting the whole world around. Despite the violence and rules he had to live by because of his boss, Alan didn’t hate his job, nor his life. Maybe he did feel a little lonely sometimes, and that’s when he caught his mind wandering in a dangerous direction; toward her. Wondering what she was up to, what her past had been like and if anyone was looking for her.
Every time he’d try to shake the thought away, physically shaking his head like a dog after a bath, cracking his fingers and opening a new can of soda while he willed his mind to come back to the present moment and the screens in front of him.
Baek-jeong had made him look her up but hardly anything had come up. A few child services files, a few police records when she was still a juvenile therefore avoiding any prison time. And then nothing, it was like she was dead to the rest of the world and there was not even a record of it. Like she disappeared from the surface of the Earth and no one went looking for her. He found it a bit tragic and sad, but also wonderful in a way. It gave her all the freedom she wanted. In a sense he was free too as he’d erased any trace of his previous life from the internet, he was a ghost just like her. The simple fleeting thought made him smile, his tongue probing at the ring on his lower lip and immediately her face took over his mind again.
The moment his mind betrayed him and showed him images of her, blurred and fleeting in his brain, he threw his arms in the air as if in a giving up motion, annoyed that she was distracting him so easily. He didn’t know why she affected him so much, but he would be lying if he said it didn't bothered him so much. A part of him was annoyed of course, from not knowing why his mind was acting up. The other part of him liked it, that special feeling he got in his body, filling his stomach with something special like she’d poisoned him.
Giving up on whatever he’d been doing on his screens all night, he got up and out of his room in search for something to drink in the not-so-mini fridge of the vast penthouse Baek-jeong has rented in a very luxurious hotel. Closing back the empty fridge he jumped from surprised when he turned around and noticed her standing on the other side of the counter. The last bottle in hand and a sort of innocent look on her face.
She finished swallowing her mouthful of water before throwing him a curious look and extending her arms, offering him the bottle. He took it hesitantly as a shy smile adorned her lips.
They started talking a little, some back and forth easy banter, and he enjoyed it. How easy it was to be around her, and it surprised him he hadn’t noticed sooner.
At some point she ended up on his side of the counter, he didn’t remembered her walking over while they discussed in hushsed voices as to not wake up their boss and his right hand who were sleeping just a few doors down the whole of the penthouse.
She watched him laugh at something she’d say, the way his smile radiated and was so communicative she couldn’t help her lips when they formed a smile too. Her eyes caught his lip piercing and the way his tongue poked out to wet his lower lip and the glint of the metal in the low kitchen light. Never in her life she’d imagined reacting so much to a simple piercing, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find him very attractive.
His hair seemed even crazier than during the day, streaks of blue and blond, and she surprised herself when she asked him what his natural color was. She wasn’t even more surprised when he answered.
“I think i’d like to see you with your natural dark brown hair.”
That stunned him, shy as he was, couldn’t find a single thought in his big brain. So his body reacted on his own and he laughed a little awkwardly at it, because it was sort of a compliment half said. A truth hanging in there between them in the chill night air. The silence that enveloped them felt suddenly thick and Alan found a small pocket of courage in this tranquille atmosphere, because he stepped a few inches in her direction. The way she was she couldn’t run away easily, her back pressed to the counter, a wall on one side and his body on the other.
She seemed so close and yet so far, as if he could reach out with one hand and touch her arms crossed over chest, but so far because he struggled to let go and do what he craved too.
She kept looking him in the eye and threw him off balance a little, and sometimes her stare would slowly slide down to his piercing before going back up. He kept talking with that low deep voice of his she only hears when it’s pitch black outside and they’re both on a mission for Baek-jeong. She realised she liked it, the low deep tone leaving his throat as his adam apple bobbed. He seemed to catch up on it quickly.
It was instinctive, the way one of his arms slid around her waist, warm hand splayed at the small of her back. Her tank top was too thin to conceal his warm touch and goosebumps erupted on her skin, and she prayed he wouldn’t notice. But he did and he loved it, revelled in the way she reacted to his touch.
The distance between them disappeared gradually, and her arms uncrossed and palms splayed against his chest. He radiated warmth and it felt so good that she let her eyes flutter close for a second and her breathing slow down.
When she opened her eyes again, they felt heavy with sleep but mostly with need, her pupils blown wide engulfing almost all the brown around. She’d been craving physical touch for the longest time, yearning to be held and here she found herself. Held by the man she possibly had a crush on no matter how hard she scolded herself for it. But a part of her reasoned that Alan and her had been exchanging glances for months now, his voice always so low and intentional whenever he’d talk to her.
She’d look up from his lips to his eyes, only to find them fixated on her own mouth, heavy lidded eyes staring right back at her, at something that looked way too soft for such a violent world. The moment seemed to stretch forever as he leaned toward her, their noses brushing and their breathing entangling. For a second it felt like the world stopped spinning entirely, and froze on its axis.
He sneaked a hand to her waist and held her tight like he needed physical support, the other coming to brush under her jaw, hold it and swipe a thumb on her cheek. She could taste the last energy drink he drank on his lips, the metal ring on his lower one colder than she expected. The kiss deepened and he shuffled closer, their bodies flush against each other and her back pressed against the cold counter.
The hand at her waist slid under her thin tank top, the fabric so thin she felt every inch of him through his own t-shirt. His hand squeezed the soft flesh at her waist and she caressed the hair at the back of his neck while they got lost in the kiss.
After that first move that night, every time he looked at her she could feel herself blushing and she hated herself for letting her feelings rule her. She was a professional, she needed to keep a cool head but Alan was everywhere, always nearby with his finger hovering above his keyboard.
Some night when she couldn’t sleep she would find her way to his room, hovering behind the door wondering if she was making a mistake until the need to see him took over and she stepped inside his room before anyone could spot her in the hallway.
Often time he wouldn’t hear her sneaking up onto him, his headphones blasting some heavy music, his hands busy on his computer and his eyes glued to his screens. But once he noticed her, he would completely leave whatever he was doing aside, get up from his chair with a wicked grin on his face.
Everytime she’d see him look at her with that devilish grin and his tongue poking out on his lower lip near the ring, it felt like something was fluttering in her stomach. Something almost feral and instinctive. And he felt it too, when she’d look at him and get lost in thoughts so much she wouldn’t even notice that he caught her staring. He found it amusing but never told her, afraid she would stop doing it if she became self-conscious about it.
So he kept his thoughts a little secret but made sure she knew that she didn’t leave him indifferent, he wanted to make sure she knew how he felt. And since he wasn’t good with words he let his body do the work. Letting his hands roam over her top and shorts, letting his mouth tell her unholy stories in the form of long passionate kisses.
His breathing hitching when he’d feel her hands at his neck, on his shoulders, down his stomach. Soft sounds leaving him when she’d slightly bite down on his lower lip, kissing his piercing.
Making her walk backward he lowered them both on the mattress, her body beneath his and one hand caressing the skin on her thigh uncovered by her shorts. Clothes quickly discarded on the floor, messy tangle of limbs and breathing, his voice so deep and low she was certain he could send her over the edge just by talking to her like that.
She knew he kept his voice down for practical reasons, she knew they had to keep it low for now, but she’d be damned if she didn’t say it turned her on even more. The way he talked her through it, his grunt and breath against her skin, the metal of the lip piercing a stark contrast to his soft lips.
When he spun them around and she found herself on top of him, he kept his hands on her hips squeezing the skin as they moved as if in sync. His eyes trailing over her naked form right in front of him, he thought he was seeing an angel, a few locks of her long hair falling over her shoulders. She moved and arched her back, eyes boring a hole in his soul as she completely lost herself. A rolled his hips to match her movements and the feeling was so much his back arched instinctively.
They were both revelling in the feeling of each other's embrace, the walls of the room and the city night lights the only witnesses to the devotion they displayed.